Stocking and method of manufacturing the same



Aug. 22, 1961 N. MAYER 2,996,726

STOCKING ANI; METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME Filed July 9. 1958INVENTOR. NATHAN MAYER United States Patent 2,996,726 STOCKING ANDMETHOD OF MANU- FACTURING SAME Nathan Mayer, Yonkers, N .Y., assignor toPrestige, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July9, 1958, Ser. No. 747,335 2 Claims. (Cl. 22 40) My invention relates toa self-sustaining, or gartenless stocking.

Ladies stockings are usually supported by buckles which are suspendedfrom girdles, or pantie-girdles. The buckles rub and chafe, they twistthe stockings around as the wearer moves, they show through thin summerdresses and are otherwise not desirable. Furthermore, when no girdle orpantie is worn, the stockings have to be supported by means of garterswhich creep, which constrict the circulation and which are alsootherwise undesirable. Witness the fact that garters are hardly everused.

Mens socks are either exclusively supported by garters which rub andchafe, or they are not supported at all, in which case they roll downaround the ankles and pre sent an untidy appearance.

The object of this invention is to provide self-sustaining ladiesstockings and mens socks without the necessity of using any of theexpedients referred to.

Partly for adjusting the length of a stocking worn in the usual manner,or with its upper edge above the knee, and partly in order to enable awoman to wear a full length stocking below the knee, it has beenproposed to construct the upper portion of a stocking in such a fashionthat it may automatically roll, or so that it may be readily rolled,down to the desired extent. One example of this type of stocking isdisclosed in Patent No. 2,814,- 938 issued to 'S. I. Bond on December 3,1957, to which reference may be made for identification of the type ofstocking under discussion. But, I have found that in certain stockingsso constructed, the upper edge of the stockin-g tends to roll downbeyond the desired extent.

It is, therefore, a further object of my invention to provide animproved stocking, the upper portion of which cannot roll down beyond apredetermined point.

In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stockingembodying the invention and FIG. 2 is an enlargement of the areabracketed in broken lines in FIG. 1.

The stocking to which my invention is applied may be conventional andmay include a leg 12, an after welt 14, which engages the lower end ofthe thigh below the knee, and a reinforced welt 16. My invention isapplied to a portion 20 of the stocking which encloses the knee portion.In carrying out my invention I apply a relatively thick coating 18 of amaterial, having a relatively high coefficient of friction andelasticity, to a relatively narrow band 19 at the upper end of the kneeportion and I apply a relatively thin coating 21 of the material, whichhas a high coeflicient of friction, but need not be elastic, to thebalance of the knee enclosing portion 20. Coatice 2 ings 18 and 21 are,preferably, applied to the inside of the stocking fabric, but may beapplied to the outside also.

In practice, upper band 19 need only be about onehalf of an inch wide sothat the balance of the thinly coated knee enclosing portion 20 will beabout three inches wide. Because upper coated band 19 serves to hold thestocking in posit-ion, and because it is too high up to be visible, itcan be made relatively heavy, and its thickness may be of the order of.01", which I have found to be satisfactory for the purpose for which itis designed. The remainder of the knee enclosing portion 20 will be moreor less visible, depending on the height of the hem and on otherfactors, and, therefore, coating 21 should be so thin as to besubstantially invisible while still serving the purpose of preventingbagging and twisting of the stocking relative to the knee. In practice,I find that a coating of .0005" thick operates satisfactorily.

The material used in forming coatings 18 and 21 may be latex, or casein,or a mixture of about equal pants of casein and latex. These areapplicable to synthetic as well as to natural fiber stockings, or thematerial may be polyurethane which is applicable to synthetic stockingsand 'which has a quicker curing cycle. These materials are non-toxic andcan safely be worn on the skin.

The treatment of the upper portion of the stocking as above set forth,tends to cement the yarns together at their intersections and thusprevents or reduces laddering when a yarn breaks. When applied to a rolledge stockingof the type disclosed in the said Burd patent, the upper,or first band also limits the extent to which the upper portion of thestocking will roll automatically.

What I claim is:

1. A stocking including a lower portion for enclosing the foot and theleg, an intermediate portion for enclosing the knee, and an upperportion for enclosing the portion of the limb immediately above theknee, a first coating of a material having a high coefiicient offriction and of elasticity on said upper portion, the thickness of saidfirst coating being of the order of .01" and a second coating of amaterial having a high coefficient of friction on said intermediateportion, the thickness of said second coating being of the order of.0005.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the width of said upperportion is less than half the width of said intermediate portion.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,581,067 Kleindienst Apr. 13, 1926 1,823,178 Walton Sept. 15, 19312,017,604 Mountford et a1. Oct. 15, 1935 2,053,761 Block Sept. 8, 19362,283,278 Morse May 19, 1942 2,288,361 Kress June 30, 1942 2,329,899Herbener Sept. 21, 1943 2,514,108 Vogt July 4, 1950

